Ordu will host the second stop of the "Local Media Training" program of the IPS Communications Foundation's "Establishing a Countrywide Network in Turkey for Monitoring and Covering Media Freedom and Independent Journalism" project, known as BİA².

The first meeting of the "Women's Rights and Women's Journalism Training" program for local media was held last week in Batman, and the second will take place in Ordu from 24-25 September.

The two-day educational program will include presentations by experienced communications educators, women's rights advocates, and journalists Hülya Gülbahar, Hülya Tanrıöver, Nadire Mater, Fügen Uğur, Beyhan Demir and Halime Güner.

Through presentations and discussion workshops, the training seminar will provide the local journalists attending with experienced advice and applied examples.

Newspaper, radio, and television journalists from the Black Sea Region, including Samsun, Kars, Trabzon, Artvin, Ordu, Rize, Giresun, Tokat, Amasya, Sinop, Kastamonu, Çorum, Zonguldak, Karabük and Bartın, have been invited to the conference in Ordu.

The education program, which was developed with the consultation of Dr. Sevda Alankuş, visits six regions every year and will last for three years. It was developed with the goal of teaching local journalists in Turkey about rights-based reporting, by providing them with a basic understanding of politically and ethically responsible journalism.

In its first year, the program's education project on "human rights journalism" delivered seminars and workshops to local and regional journalists in Mersin, Trabzon, Diyarbakır, İzmir, Bolu and Bursa.

In its third year, the program will focus on "children's rights journalısm."

BİA² was founded as part of the IPS Communications Foundation's Independent Communications Network project. 80% of the project's budget is met through a grant contract under the European Union's Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR). The "Women's Rights and Women's Journalism Training" project has been realized with a donation from the Swedish Consulate.

Program schedule

Saturday 24 September

9:30 - 10:00 Welcome and introduction to BİA²

10:00 - 11:00 National and International Arrangements Concerning Women's Rights

Hülya Gülbahar (one of the founders of the Civil Law and Turkish Criminal Law Women's Platform)

11:00- 11:15 Break

11:15 - 12.45 Media and Women I: Media and Women's Representation

Doç. Dr. Hülya Tanrıöver (Galatasaray University Communications Faculty))

12:45 - 14:00 Lunch

14:00-15:30 Medya ve Kadın II: Medya'da Kadın Hakları İhlalleri

Media and Women II: The Media and Women's Rights Violations

Doç. Dr. Hülya Tanrıöver (Galatasaray University Communications Faculty)

15:30 - 15:45 Break

15:45 - 17:00 Workshop: Reporting Violations of Women's Rights (Reporting about assault, honor killings, and violence against women)

Nadire Mater (Ankara University Women's Studies Center)

Fügen Uğur (Journalist)

19:30 BİA² dinner

25 September 2005, Sunday

9:30 - 11:00 Workshop: Workshop: Reporting Violations of Women's Rights, continued.

Nadire Mater, Fügen Uğur

11:00 - 11:15 Break

11:15 - 12:30 Alternative Women's Journalism

Beyhan Demir (Monday Magazine)

Halime Güner (General Coordinator of Flying Broomstick, women's rights organization)

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch

13:30 - 14:30 General Evaluation and Conclusion